StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 10, 2018 Author Report Posted April 10, 2018 Found this to use a a reference for my thigh ammo pack and belt trimming Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 10, 2018 Author Report Posted April 10, 2018 I started by measuring 5 mm from the boxes on both the thigh ammo pack and belt. My question is what should the overall length be of each of these? Is the belt 1 1/2 inches from the outer boxes to the edge? For the thigh ammo what should the distance be as well? Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted April 10, 2018 Report Posted April 10, 2018 There's no set standard of length or width however, when in doubt refer to reference photos and their placement in relation to the armor. 1 Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 12, 2018 Author Report Posted April 12, 2018 So looking over my parts and realized my left thigh has this gap on the bottom. Can I fill it in with ABS paste? I mean I know I can do it but will it impact approval? Quote
Frank75139[501st] Posted April 12, 2018 Report Posted April 12, 2018 If you fill it properly you’ll be fine. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote
ukswrath[Staff] Posted April 12, 2018 Report Posted April 12, 2018 Seen quite a few applicants use ABS paste here. As Frank said it's perfectly fine. 1 Quote
TK 71627[TK] Posted April 12, 2018 Report Posted April 12, 2018 Seen quite a few applicants use ABS paste here. As Frank said it's perfectly fine. Thanks for the 411...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote
lucnak[TK] Posted April 12, 2018 Report Posted April 12, 2018 Did this for my friend's TK build. Gap was not as big but I jsut stuck some spare ABS pieces inside the ridge and fill with paste. Worked pretty well! 3 Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 13, 2018 Author Report Posted April 13, 2018 Here is how I began to fix that gap First I put some painters tap on the front of the gap covering the area that I want to fill with ABS paste I than applied the ABS paste from behind to fill in the gap and allowed to dry I'll keep you in suspense for the results 1 Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 Worked on the elastic strapping for the chest and back pieces. I measured out 10 inches of 2 inch white elastic. I measured out extra because I was not sure where everything should fit and its easier to have more to work with than less. I marked the half way point and than measured 3/4 inch from the edge for where my sew in snap will go. The snap is off centered to provide some overlap of the straps, so the snap will be closer to my neck rather. This was done the same for the left and right straps. For the right side I folded over and sew a loop to strengthen to add a Tandy line 24 snap. I also redid the snap on the chest as I needed a stronger hold than what I had before. I played with placement and was trying to figure out where to glue the straps for placement. I opted to use the shoulder strap bumps as my guide. I placed the chest piece on and counted the bumps to where the center of my should is and wound up with 7 bumps from the front. I glued the right side strap to the back with the sew snap at the 7th bump and clamped in place. For the left side the front and back straps are glued (Thank you Tony!). I repeated the same process for the left as the right centered the sew snap at the 7th bump and glue and clamped the front and back strap in place After drying gave myself a little test fit Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 Before I put my belt together I wanted to get the Ab button plate in place so I could determine where I wanted the belt to sit. I sanded down the rough cuts and ran the back of it over sand paper to even out the back and allow it to sit more flush on the Ab Added some E6000 to the back and put in place Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 So trying to fix my shin to close better and I may have gotten a bit further than I wanted..... Any suggestions? Maybe its not that bad? 1 Quote
shashachu[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 Nice work, Jeff! You've obviously done your research and your detailed build thread is going to be really useful for future WTF builders. As for the shins, one piece of advice I picked up when building my WTF kit was to get the shins lining up properly even before adding any closures. I used Velcro on mine so might be slightly different, but I heatgunned the bejeezus out of my shins to get them lined up. Here's a shin while gluing: And here's a shin after lots of heating and reshaping, no Velcro: Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 2 hours ago, shashachu said: And here's a shin after lots of heating and reshaping Thank you Sha Sha! What did you use to reshape the shins? My shins are a bit wavy despite my best efforts with the heat gun Quote
Cricket[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 I was too paranoid to use a heat gun on my shins. I had great results using a hot water bath to get my shins to meet cleanly in the back. 1 Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Cricket said: I had great results using a hot water bath to get my shins to meet cleanly in the back. I need a bigger pot to get to the middle parts if I go that route. Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 (edited) Worked on putting my belt together the other evening. I trimmed everything down to size on the guide I have a few posts back Than I measured the 45 degree angle cuts and cut them out I than added the pop snaps to the Ab piece. I forgot the measurements from the horizontal edge but the vertical are 1/2 inches from the bottom edge Right: Left: With the help of some tape I measured the distance from right snap to the left snap I took this measurement to my Imperial Issue belt. I measured between the velcro and marked the halfway point on the belt than I measured 6 1/4 inches from the middle point I than used a soldering iron to put the holes in the canvas belt at the 2 outside marked spots and added my snaps I test fitted this on the Ab to make sure the spacing was correct Now onto the waist ammo belt. I measured the 3 holes for the rivets according to the illustration again and drilled them out I lined up the belt with the inside 45 corner on the inside line of stiching and marked the points on the belt with a dry erase marker Again I used the soldering iron to make the holes and than put the rivets in place. I put a 3mm washer on the back to give it a bit more grip Did a test fit on the Ab and with the waist ammo pack on I was unable to get the snaps to stay snapped. I drilled out one rivet and moved one snap over to where the edge of the old one use to be. Made a new hole re-snapped, and riveted. That did the trick. Edited April 16, 2018 by StrmTRPR85 hit submit too soon 2 Quote
Cricket[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 I used a cheap lobster pot picked up at my local grocery store. I think it's 12 quarts? I could fit about 2/3 of the untrimmed WTF shin in the pot. You put as much of the shin that will fit in the water for several seconds, then flip it, putting the other end in the boiling water. The ABS out stays hot enough to work with long enough to shape it. When molding the hot plastic, be sure to put it under running cold water to help 'lock' the new shape. You repeat this process until you get the shape you want. It's a gentle, gradual process. 1 Quote
shashachu[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 4 hours ago, StrmTRPR85 said: Thank you Sha Sha! What did you use to reshape the shins? My shins are a bit wavy despite my best efforts with the heat gun I used a heat gun, too. It was quite a lot of effort, though. I essentially had to heat the fronts of the shins while overcorrecting the position of the backs of the shins so that they cooled somewhere in the middle. A bit hard to explain, unfortunately. And re your belt position, make sure it's not sitting too low - it should be touching or even slightly overlapping the ab buttons. I had to reposition the snaps on my belt and I also added some Velcro to keep the belt up. Looking great! Quote
lucnak[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 Ideally you should have trimmed a bit less off the large button plate, but it's not a critical error. Figured you would want to know. It is an easy piece to replace if you decide that you want to do so. You're making great progress! Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 1 hour ago, shashachu said: it should be touching or even slightly overlapping the ab buttons Thank you for calling that out! My intention was to have it touching the bottom of the button, than 2 am rolled up on me and I completely forgot. Easy to drill some holes and add new pop snaps Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 1 hour ago, lucnak said: Ideally you should have trimmed a bit less off the large button plate, but it's not a critical error. Figured you would want to know. It is an easy piece to replace if you decide that you want to do so Thank you Luc! I don't remember if my Ab button had much space to work with when I was trimming it, hence just trimmed it down. I have another WTF builder I've been assisting through facebook that is going to send me a pic or two of his untrimmed Ab button later tonight. Quote
StrmTRPR85[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Author Report Posted April 16, 2018 On 4/11/2018 at 8:31 PM, StrmTRPR85 said: So looking over my parts and realized my left thigh has this gap on the bottom. Can I fill it in with ABS paste? I mean I know I can do it but will it impact approval? I think I kept you all in suspense long enough. It still needs a little more love but much better 1 Quote
Cricket[TK] Posted April 16, 2018 Report Posted April 16, 2018 15 minutes ago, StrmTRPR85 said: Thank you Luc! I don't remember if my Ab button had much space to work with when I was trimming it, hence just trimmed it down. I have another WTF builder I've been assisting through facebook that is going to send me a pic or two of his untrimmed Ab button later tonight. That Ab button plate does not have much of a lip on it at all. I added a backing plate to mine. https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41502-crickets-wtf-hero-build-even-more-tk-for-the-vertically-challenged/?do=findComment&comment=595624 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.